[CENTER][IMG]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6j3orZViZqI/SpqEaEWPtiI/AAAAAAAAADo/2_2jUnYwObs/s400/nog.JPG[/IMG]
[I](Is the old Nogueira back?)[/I][/CENTER]

Earlier, i expected [URL="http://www.mmastaredown.com/2009/08/why-couture-will-dominate-nogueira.html"]Randy Couture to dominate Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira everywhere[/URL], i really couldn't imagine a scenario where Nogueira would win. Well, he sure did show everybody that he is not done just yet. As a follow-up to the [URL="http://www.mmastaredown.com/2009/08/why-couture-will-dominate-nogueira.html"]prediction post[/URL] here is my take on the fight.

[B]Standing up[/B][LIST][*]Just like the Lesnar fight, Couture's head movement didn't work with Nogueira like it did with Tim Sylvia.[*]Nogueira caught Couture in the first round with a right hand to the temple that sent him to the mat (the same punch Lesnar caught him with) but unlike Lesnar, Nogueira couldn't finish the fight and Couture survived.[*]It was not the only time Couture was knocked down in the fight though, as he also survived a second knockdown in the third round.[*]Nogueira's chin looked great as Couture landed a bunch of solid shots throughout the fight that didn't seem to bother Nogueira.[/LIST][B]In the clinch[/B][LIST][*]Surprisingly, Nogueira went blow by blow with Couture in the clinch.[*]Interestingly, Couture -behind in the scorecards- didn't shoot for a takedown, not once.[/LIST][B]On the ground[/B][LIST][*]Nogueira swept Couture just like he did Fedor but he was able to hold Couture down way longer.[*]Couture -[URL="http://www.mmastaredown.com/2009/08/why-couture-will-dominate-nogueira.html"]As expected[/URL]- showed textbook submission defence as he defended a very tight D'Arce choke, a similarly tight Arm Triangle and a Rear Naked Choke.[*]While on top in Nogueira's guard, Couture's GNP was not as violent as [URL="http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2009/08/28/xtreme-couture-submission-coach-neil-melanson-expects-a-more-violent-randy-couture-at-ufc-102/"]his submission coach Neil Melanson said it would be[/URL].[/LIST]
[URL="http://www.mmastaredown.com/"]MMAstaredown.com[/URL]

[CENTER][IMG]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6j3orZViZqI/SphPKP19IgI/AAAAAAAAACw/06cUMBgdiok/s400/Couture.Randy2.jpg[/IMG]
[I](Randy Couture pounding on Gabreial Gonzaga with
his [URL="http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=4592&zoneid=13"]BROKEN[/URL] left arm).[/I][/CENTER]
[B]Standing up[/B][LIST][*]Couture dominated Tim Sylvia standing up (he knocked him down with the first punch).[*]If outboxed, Couture can take the fight to the ground at will.[/LIST][B]In the clinch[/B][LIST][*]Couture is great at dirty boxing and holding fighters against the fence.[*]Nogueira doesn't have the wrestling ability to take Couture down.[*]Nogueira doesn't mind getting taken down so much.[/LIST][B]On the ground[/B][LIST][*]Two-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu absolute world champion [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronaldo_Souza"]Jacare[/URL] didn't even score in a grappling bout with Couture (Couture outweighed Jacare with 30-40 lbs but he didn't come to the bout 100% and he wasn't pounding on Jacare either).[*]Fedor GnP'ed Nogueira from his guard for the most part of thier first fight, so it's not that impossible to do.[*]Elbow srikes which Couture can use were banned in Pride.[*]Brock Lesnar couldn't hold Couture down.[/LIST]
P.S. [URL="http://www.mmastaredown.com/2009/08/randy-couture-man-to-beat-brock-lesnar.html"]Lesnar is next[/URL].

A game plan is one of the most important aspects of an MMA fight.You could possess all the tools and potential to win a fight and yet manage to throw it all out of the window, whether it's because of ego, mental weakness or just utter stupidity. Here is a list of the top ten most idiotic infuriating potential-wasting game plans in MMA.

10. Thales Leites vs Anderson Silva
Winner - Silva by Decision

Even in pure Jiu-Jitsu competition we don't often see the butt-scoot and pray technique that Leites kept going for. May be that's why they allowed head stomps and soccer kicks in Pride.

9. Rashad Evans vs Lyoto Machida
Winner - Machida by KO

Nothing, That is what Rashad Evans and his trainer Greg jackson seemed to have come up with for the Machida fight and that is exactly what Rashad did. No countering, no takedown attempts.Lyoto Machida is a very elusive and unorthodox fighter who also drinks his own urine but come on.

8. Jason Macdonald vs Demian Maia
Winner - Maia by sub

I don't know what happened to the good old "fight your opponents where he is weakest", because Macdonald having a huge reach advantage and better stand up not only went for the clinch and let the fight go to the ground but he also kept trying to submit Maia. Well, We know how that turned out.

7. Sean Sherk vs Frank Edgar
Winner - Edgar by decision

I bet Sean Sherk was telling himself while getting picked apart throughout the fight "I have knockout power, I have knockout power", Until it finally hit him in the third round, "Oh shit, I don't have knockout power", only then he went for the takedown but it was a little too late for that.

6. Frank Shamrock vs Cung Le
Winner - Le by TKO

"It will be a good test for me to stand with Cung," that's what Shamrock said in a pre-fight interview. Let's hope he learned that tests belong in the gym and sticks to fighting in the cage.

5. Pete Sell vs Scott Smith
Winner - Smith by KO

Judging how bad Smith does every time he goes to the ground Pete Sell (A Jiu-Jitsu brown belt back then) could have finished the fight easily on the ground but he chose to stand and trade with Smith to make an exciting fight. That is exactly what he did and hopefully all he wanted.

4. Kalib Starnes vs Nate Quarry
Winner - Quarry by Decision

The distance that Starnes ran backwards in that fight was impressive, considering how small is the octagon, his foot was broken and the fact that Quarry was chasing after him with punches and brutal leg kicks. I say Dana White made him a favor by releasing him from the UFC so he can focus on his Backward running career.

3. Frank Mir vs Brock Lesnar
Winner - Lesnar by TKO

After Mir prepared for his fight with Lesnar by sparring with Forrest Griffin and rolling with Robert Drysdale hopefully he won't train for Cheick Kongo by sparring with Gray Maynard because - you know, He is a faster and a more dynamic wreslter than Kongo.

2. Michael Bisping vs Dan Henderson
Winner - Henderson by KO

Circling towards Henderson's power hand was not the right thing to do, I'm sure Bisping knew that, his corner knew that and told him not to do it, even Mike Goldberg knew that. Why did Bisping kept doing it is beyond me.

1. Forrest griffin vs Anderson silva
Winner - Silva by KO

At the beginning of that fight Griffin tried to pull a James Irvin (right leg kick that silva caught and counterd with a right cross - a mistake that Griffin also did in his fight with Rashad Evans that cost him the fight), When that didn't work he switched to the Chris Leben right away, Way to study fights, Forrest.

May be fighters should use thier heads and set their egos aside so - as Dana White puts it - we can find out who really is the best.

I think that the UFC is in a really weird situation here where patience may be the best policy. I say this because there is a Heavy Weight division in Strikeforce but it really isn't stacked at all. That said take for example a guy like Brett Rogers, this is a guy that has never been in the situations fight wise that Fedor has.

I state this because I believe that there will really be no one that Strikeforce can bring to the table that will even come close to beating him.

Where am I going with all this? Well the UFC clearly by showing UFC 100 so soon for free on Spike are trying to capture some of that market and will continue to employ these tactics until they once again most likely impact Strikeforce's business. The point is they may not have to, Strikeforce has alot riding on Fedor including a contract with Showtime, perhaps by the time fedor has walked through all their HW's their draw as a venue could decline without the help of the UFC.

First let me start by saying I am a huge Fedor Emelianenko fan. He is most like the most dominant fighter to date in the history of MMA regardless of Weight class. "The Last Emperor" as he is known is was born September 28, 1976 (let it be known I was born almost exactly 1 year later Sept, 19th 1977) he weighs in approximately 233 pounds and fights as a Heavyweight. His current official record is 30-1* with 1 no contest. The asterisk next to his name is to denote his one loss came in a tournament where he was hit with an illegal elbow and cut. The bleeding was unable to be controlled and therefore he could not continue so the one who hit him was given the win so he could advance. if not for the tournament format the fight would have been declared a no contest as it was very obvious the elbow was not intentional. Almost all MMA rankings have him listed as the #1 heavyweight fighter in the world and many have him as the #1 pound for pound fighter in the world his record and stats can be viewed [URL="http://sherdog.com/fighter/Fedor-Emelianenko-1500"]here[/URL]. Now that you know who this is about let me go into the topic on hand.

Now it is widely accepted and I even agree that at the moment the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC is the current top dog in the MMA world. In almost every weight class they boast at least 5 of the top 10 fighters and in some weight classes even more. The one weight class that seems to be in the biggest contention is the Heavyweight division. And The UFC has some great young and veteran fighters. It is also widely felt that the HW division in MMA in general for the most part is the most talent shallow division.

Back in the Heyday of Pride Fighting Championship Fedor reigned supreme while Randy Couture was pretty much the ruler of the UFC. Just about everyone who was an MMA fan at the time wanted to know who would win. Captain America or the Russian Machine. Sadly in Randy's Prime this match never happened. Now though Pride is long gone. Fedor is currently under contract with M-1 Global who is owned in part by Vadim Finklestein who just also happens to be Fedor's manager (keep this in the back of your mind. As you read this.)

Now several times in the past Dana White the president of the UFC has tried to sign Fedor for instance after the demise of Pride. In the past negotiations have always seemed to break down as neither side seemed willing to make concessions to other. Past negotiations I blame on both parties at the table.

Now let me state some feelings here. Personally I do not think Fedor has any say over what contract he signs as I truly believe his manager/fighter contract with Vadim has him practically a slave. And his only way out would be to defect from Russia which as most MMA fans know is a point of personal pride with Fedor as he loves his country. And keep in mind Russian contract law is most likely very different then US contract law where most athletes can get out of a contract if they feel their management is not acting in their best interests.

Back to the point... as I said, past negotiations have always broken down with both sides Fedor's management and Dana calling each other names and such. The last time this happened Fedor ended up signing with, if you guessed M-1 Global, you would be correct. The contract was for 6 fights, So far Fedor has had 3. 2 of which were under Affliction where he defeated, excuse me, destroyed two former UFC HW champs. After 2 shows. Affliction is back to just clothing and Fedor needs to find a new place to fight.

Well to give credit to Dana White, He seems this time to have listened to the fans and came to Fedors management with an incredible deal, a supposedly 6 fight contract making over a million, some reports say up t 5 million per fight deal which would make him the highest paid fighter in MMA history. A point of contention on the past has been Fedor's participation in Sambo matches in his home country which is really Fedor's true passion, Dana gave in. Dana said Fedor could hang banners about M-1 Global and even wear shorts in the ring that said M-1 on them, let the record show that when Affliction announced it was going to promote MMA events fighters were banned from wearing Affliction clothing or posting Affliction on their ringside banners, re-aired shows had Affliction apparel fuzzed out, So this was a big thing for Dana to give. Every concession that was for Fedor the fighter Dana appears to have made.

Except, you know there had to be one of these things seemed to perfect...

Except to co-promote events which is what Vadim states as the main reason they did not sign the contract. Now some say this was ludicrous for Dana not to agree to co-promote. Why would the UFC not agree to this? well in the early days when MMA was all but outlawed in most states and Dana and the owners were trying to grow, none of the other smaller promotions of the time would help them fight to get the laws and such changed, Because of the efforts of the UFC and Dana White MMA is legal in most states and more are signing on. It cost the UFC a lot of money which they have more then since made back but have made it easier for the promotions that would not help them to survive, most failed to survive anyway. Dana does not feel like helping another promotion succeed because of all his and the UFC's efforts. I partly agree.

In the Fedor issue I feel the UFC went over and above what it should have done to try and sign this superstar even at the risk of upsetting their own current stable of fighters who most of which together would not be getting what Fedor was offered, but as I said Dana tried to create the fights fans have been begging to see. I also feel this gives some credibility to the past rants of Dana white referring to Fedorís management team as "crazy Russians".

I also feel the UFC does not need Fedor, nor does Fedor need the UFC. The UFC is now a large stable company believed by many fans to be the major leagues of MMA, argument for a future entry. And Fedor has 30 wins having beat every challenger put in front of him including a rematch to his one "loss"

So where does this leave Fedor, I mean obviously the UFC is going to continue as they already have 4 or 5 shows scheduled and the next season of The Ultimate Fighter taping featuring Kimbo Slice, again future posts. Fedor is going to the next largest promotion in the US, Strikeforce. There he has only 3 obvious challengers the most dangerous of whom would be Allister Overeem, who I predict Fedor beating in the first round and becoming the Strikeforce HW champion to add to his Pride title and the WAMMA title, yet another future topic. It is supposedly a 3 fight contract which will end to coincide with the end of his M-1 contract. Does this mean we have to wait 3 more Fedor fights before we have a chance to see Fedor in the UFC?

The answer to that is I do not know. Personally I feel as long as Vadim is his manager Fedor will not get into the UFC. And if I am right about his contract with Vadim this may never happen because I do not believe Fedor would ever leave his home country. So for me... I look forward to the next UFC event this weekend along with the WEC event(its free so thatís the one I will watch) and to Fedor's next fight whenever that is.